Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I got an unexpected day off work today. Apparently at 5 in the morning a water main broke in downtown London, causing the power to go out to the downtown. This is the photo of the city trying to clean up the large sinkhole that appeared in the street afterwards!

The street lights were all out on my way to work and police were starting to direct traffic at major intersections. There was no power at my store, but I had to wait for our Wednesday comic shipment to arrive. My employee arrived and said the bus routes were a mess downtown as well as 20 minutes behind schedule. Hubby arrived around noon. The comics arrived and we did our best unpacking, counting and putting them aside for the regulars. By 1PM we still had no power so we called it quits and took a walk around downtown to see the chaos. If you want more photos they are on the store blog.

Monday, October 29, 2007

I have been very busy, and haven't been able to post. First, a Halloween photo. Pirates jogging by my house came to say hello. They had just completed their 10k run through Springbank Park. Participants were encouraged to dress up! Father and son make a great team!

Finally Echt Hollands is done and back in my possession! I sent it out to Sue Chinn of Huntsville to be machine quilted. And what a wonderful job she's done!

A detail from the back with the label I made:

Thanks Sue!!

On Saturday, our guild had a room booked so we could work on UFO's. Here is a very flattering photo of myself basting my Robyn Pandolph piece:

We were in a church basement and it rained most of the day but every once in awhile sun would shine through that window. I liked the way it shone on my quilt.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

I've been saving this post for awhile. I live within walking distance to my downtown, basically in the heart of the city. I walk to work every day and I love it! I cross a bridge at the end of the street, walk through the park and then I am downtown.

One day, at around 9AM on my way to work, I swear I heard a rooster crowing, down by the river! Imagine a rooster in the city! It's a wonder to us city folk! I paused to see if I could catch a glimpse of this bird, peering over the railing, squinting at the trees along the banks of the river. I couldn't see anything, but a cyclist along the path sure did a double take when he heard it. He too stopped to see if he could find the rooster!

For a few weeks, from my house, I could hear him crowing in the morning around 7AM. Remember how unseasonably warm it was the last few weeks of September, all our windows were open; I could hear him in the distance.

I mentioned this story to a friend who works at the local paper, and they did this story on it. But they could not find anyone who actually saw the rooster. That made me determined to find it. One early morning me and my digital camera were down by the park looking for him. I found him sitting in a tree! I took photos, but alas, they did not turn out. My camera has no zoom and it is only a 1.3 megapixel. It was also a little too dark. I went later in the afternoon and found him, very close to the same location, wandering about on the ground and managed these 'big foot' like photos:

And in case you can't find him here is the photo cropped:

I submitted my photos to the local paper and they called and said they were going to do a story, taking the "big foot" angle, but I am sure some real news took precedence. Quite a number of times I went to the same spot to check on the rooster and he was always there. I told my neighbours that I have seen the elusive rooster and I can show you where, I would take them them the next morning to show them!

Well of course, you can guess what happened. He wasn't there anymore! And we haven't heard or seen him since! I did see Animal Care and Control hanging about, so I suspect they rounded him up. I heard from someone, that the person who let the rooster go at the river was on the local radio station confessing his sins. All part of a prank apparently, someone put some chickens in his apartment as a joke, and he didn't know what to do with them so he let them go at the river. True or false? I don't know, now just part of the legend!

Well, my quilting buddies, I have been doodling roosters all the time. I am seeing roosters everywhere. In craft stores, and at the Russian Quilt show in Ailsa Craig, there were at least 3 rooster wallhangings! As Gwen Marston says, in her book, Collaborative Quilting, "When in doubt, make a chicken quilt". I am not sure I need or have the energy for a whole quilt dedicated to my rooster, but I did make a couple of fabric postcards, one for my neighbours and one for myself.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

I came up with this great Spider-man block. I thought this block would be really hard with the legs, but when I was sketching it out first, I realized that I could make one block and cut it into pieces to create the legs!

OK, my Superman block, needs work!

I improved my Green Lantern block by adding the green around it:

The menagerie, or Superhero headquarters, so far:

Also managed a couple more fabric postcards for this month's guild swap. The top one is "The Butler did it Again" and the bottom is "Autumn Trails". I am really going out on the embellishments with that one (read sarcasm) I used some gold thread and did some french knots! Embellishments go outside my 'comfort zone'!

Monday, October 08, 2007

Mmmmmm! Mom's butternut squash soup! Yummy! It was a good meal, a great winter meal for 30 degrees Celcius! We've been having a bit of a heat wave here in Southwestern Ontario! We sat out on the patio, the A/C has been on, it's crazy, wondering when the cold snap will hit!

I added borders to Black Cats Staring. I've gone thread shopping. I have been using up my embroidery thread, but I thought I would experiment with perle cotton. I don't think I will get it done in time for Halloween. I may hang it up in the front window any way, I'll see how it looks first.

Monday, October 01, 2007

I went for a drive in the country with my parents. We have had such wonderful weather lately. Sunny and warm. Above pumpkins for sale at the Lucan (oops sorry it is Birr not Lucan) General Store at the side of the highway.

Don't you just love the wings on that goose!

I also spent some time on my front porch handquilting an abandoned project. I was inspired by a photo of a japanese garden, black bamboo and the cherry blossom fabric I had. I had wanted to try some reverse applique. It didn't quite have the visual impact I had in mind and I left it hanging on my design wall ( I think the circle was too small and the background fabric too overpowering.) I was going to call this piece Sakura and make 3 more seasonal wall hangings...

But I just got a book out of the library called "Quilt & Embellish in One Step!" by Linda Potter. It contained some Sashiko inspired stitches and I thought I could use them on this piece! Now the stitches very quietly makes the circle more pronounced. I am using just regular embroidery floss, 2 colours pink and green. I've echoed the centre of the blossoms in the centre of my circle. I am much more happy about this piece.

I also finished my little triangle hand piecing. I made 2 of them. I just have to put binding on the second one. I sewed myself into a bit of a corner using 1/8 inch seams. I thought it would be more secure if I used the machine to attach the binding with a 1/8 inch seam. It's quite wonky but it was fun. I got a feel for how it might have been without a sewing machine.

This is a cat block I came up with when doodling. I want to put some button eyes on it.